What is the chord difference from a guitar and a mandolin?

Answer 1

A guitar has strings (from high to low) E B G D A E

A mandolin has pairs (from high to low) E A D G

Notice that the mandolin strings notes from high to low resemble the four lowest strings of a guitar, in reverse order.

My style of mandolin playing is an adjunct to guitar playing - - these are some tips which will get a guitar player started quickly, but bear little resemblance to the mandolin books I've looked at.

To get started with chords, you can make quick initial progress by thinking of it as a guitar fretboard upside down.

Some typical open (first position) guitar chord shapes work well like this -

G is good. The lowest open string being G, this is the "fattest" sound, like Guitar's E.

C is a similar finger position shape using two fingers; done with fingers 2 & 3 this is a shape you can start to move around the fretboard with a barre. G can move around by fretting the shape with fingers 3 & 4. Try making it a minor. With a C, try adding an E-string G, like you might on a guitar, to eliminate the cheesy third. Good shape, easy to do with a mini-barre. Easy to find minors, 7ths, maj9 etc using your guitar knowledge.

D is a little different as most Guitarists just avoid the bottom E when playing a D shape. For D, make sure you add an A on the G (lowest) string to complete the arpeggio.

Now you have another shape you can move around with a barre, Minor is fairly easy to work out - drop a semitone on the first (highest) string.

This mandolin D-shape is your best bet for a useful F chord - move it up three frets (navigate with the 5th on the E-string). (Note you can leave the A string open with better results than the same strategy would give on a guitar)

Guitar A shapes are strong on the mandolin, since the deepest string produces an A at the second fret and the A strings can either be left open for a big modal sound, or 4th fret gives you C# to go major, 3rd gives you C for a minor. The 5th on the E string is always easy to reach. Try doing a barre G shape then releasing parts of the chord to open strings. The two lowest strings can be fretted with a single index finger, leaving the rest of the left hand free to mess around.

The tuning of the mandolin is the same as the violin, one of the most maneouvrable melodic instruments around. But one of the reasons for this melodic potential brings a partial downside for chord playing.

In general, scales and shapes which on the guitar are "two frets apart", or which you can do with two steps of the left hand e.g. blues scale, will "need three fingers" on the mandolin. An octave on the guitar is usually a three string journey. On a mandolin it's two strings. This means more complex chords which are easy on the guitar can involve a bit of stretching and holding which might be tough if your mandolin has a demanding action.

A powerful Electric Guitar sound may only need a chord of a couple of strings to give a full tone (albeit the "chord" is really only a simple interval). A mandolin, being double strung, can voice a good chord on only a couple of strings too. However the strings don't resonate for as long as the guitar, so if a long sound is wanted, the right hand has to keep the sound going.

Why on earth have I put so much into this answer?? I am going outside.